M&C Saatchi is an international advertising agency with a global network of offices in 26 locations. The company works with brands such as Virgin, Peroni and Twitter, generating award winning marketing campaigns.

Challenge

The Central Strategy Unit of M&C Saatchi is what would traditionally be described as the planning function. Head of Intelligence, Mike Spencer, works in the Central Strategy Unit to provide planners, account managers and the new business departments with a fast-turnaround ‘one stop shop’ for information that they need to do their job more effectively.

Mike comments: “I spend my time answering a bewildering array of questions. This can be as diverse as providing information on the dynamics of a particular market in a country, to the competitive landscape of a number of technology brands.” To support this activity Mike needs immediate access to trusted information on a vastly diverse set of subjects.

What we did

Nexis® is a comprehensive global news and business resource with more UK regional coverage than any similar provider, plus biographical, company, regulatory and legal information. Nexis contains over 23,000 news sources, local, national and international, and a huge range of company, financial and industry sources. The database also includes access to a variety of trade and professional business journals.

A long time user of Nexis from LexisNexis, Mike believes that the product delivers an effective and trustworthy information resource. “Of course we use a range of sources for information, including specific market reports, analyst information and proprietary resources, but Nexis provides a very effective means to source relevant information quickly,” comments Mike.

For M&C Saatchi, access to accurate information is not a luxury, it is a day to day necessity for a successful business. Mike believes that Nexis continues to offer an effective research solution for the advertising industry. “Nexis gives me access to trustworthy, factual, licensed information that I can use in good faith. It is more targeted than a public web search and therefore can be far faster to use and cross reference. Nexis makes it quick and simple to access information across so many industries, companies and other sources. This is exactly what we require on a daily basis to support our clients and grow our business.”

Results

Access to detailed information on a limitless range of subjects

Trusted information, trusted sources

A solution that is continually enhanced based on client needs

Especially relevant for Mike is the breadth of information available in Nexis. With over 20,000 news sources, local, national and international, and a huge range of company, financial and industry sources, plus a 35 year archive, Nexis can deliver the level of detail that Spencer requires across a vast range of subjects: “Often a trade newspaper or magazine will have looked at a particular subject in great depth. This is particularly important to us as we often need the level of expertise that you get from trade publications. Nexis gives us access to this information without us subscribing or creating our own archive of information.”

While a great deal of information is now publically available on the web, Mike recognises the limitations of the internet as a source of information. “Some information is simply not available on the web at all, other information is, but it is impossible to find and verify in a short space of time. Nexis is my trusted, all-encompassing search function. I also know that all of the information is not only verified but licensed for our use, which would not necessarily be the case with public web information.”